


The city that never sleeps

by readythefanons



Series: The Big Apple [3]
Category: Daredevil (TV)
Genre: Gen, Karen Page/New York City, Still an actual pairing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-25
Updated: 2016-04-25
Packaged: 2018-06-04 09:31:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 786
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6652456
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/readythefanons/pseuds/readythefanons
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It’s been a rough seventy-two hours. Karen puts make up on her neck and fuck anyone who objects.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The city that never sleeps

Karen is in limbo. She can’t stay in her apartment and can’t afford a hotel, especially if she’s looking for a new place (again). She can’t get rid of her apartment unless she can get rid of the blood, and Danny’s blood won’t come out. She’s ambiguously employed: definitely fired from Union Allied and probably hired by Nelson and Murdock, but there hasn’t been time for discussion much less a contract. 

At any rate, she gets out of bed, gets dressed, and puts on her make up. She puts some extra on her neck. It can’t actually hide the mark from the bedsheet, but it can tone it down. If she lets herself think about certain things, she reels. The list of things she can’t deal with right now (or possibly ever) is long, but the top items are Danny, Danny’s family, almost dying in jail, and almost dying in her apartment. Apartment hunting and losing the money from her job are on the list, too. She’s numb, but not numb enough to forget that, in addition to everything else, the cop who tried to kill her shot himself ( _apparently,_ part of her whispers). Oh, and the man who attacked her in her apartment is also dead, found hanging in his cell. (Not suspicious at all.) It’s been a rough seventy-two hours. So Karen puts make up on her neck and fuck anyone who objects.

There’s a lot for Karen to do in the offices of Nelson and Murdock, and considerably less for Foggy and Matt. She spends all day cleaning and organizing and unpacking, which is brainless work. It’s fantastic. At quitting time, Matt heads on home, and Foggy disappears into his office with a comment about having one last thing to finish. Karen unpacks until it gets dark out, and then she keeps unpacking. She’s got mace in her purse, but the can feels like nothing in her hand. While she unpacks for Matt and Foggy, she thinks. If she times it just right, she can grab something to eat on her way home and fall into bed the minute she’s in her apartment. Minimizing the time she spends awake in her apartment is the goal, but she thinks her apartment might possibly be giving her insomnia. She’s mulling over affordable ways to test whether it’s the apartment or just her when she hears Foggy.

Foggy is singing enthusiastically and with the disregard for pitch that only precipitates when a person thinks no one can hear them. She’s smiling (it feels so good to smile, jesus) and covering her mouth. 

“You know I’m still here, right?” she calls. The singing stops abruptly. There’s a pause, and Foggy appears at the door to his office. Karen waves sheepishly. 

“Could you, could you hear me just now?” he asks. Karen considers.

“Nope,” she lies. She turns away so she’s facing the books she was unpacking.

“The correct answer is ‘yes, and you sound amazing!’” Foggy tells her. She likes Foggy. She suspected she was going to, but the feeling balloons in her chest. She is surprised by it, buoyant with affection.

They decide to go bar hopping. It’s in the murky place between what she wants and what she doesn’t. On the one hand, she’s eager to get out into the city at night again, looking for some sort of affirmation that the person she made herself into hasn’t been scared off by everything that’s happened in the last week. On the other hand, she’s hyper-aware of every shadow, everyone who brushes past her. She can’t stop scanning the alleys, the doorways, even windows and rooftops. It’s exhausting. It gets worse as Foggy leads her deeper into Hell’s Kitchen. 

Foggy asks her if she wants to talk about it, and she surprises herself by talking about it. She is done with tears, but she doesn’t know how long it’s going to be until she’s done with fear. Foggy is earnest and kind, and he takes her romantic rebuff like a champ. He turns a few of the lurking figures in the bar back into people with names and stories. They finish the bottle and make a nuisance of themselves by pounding on Matt’s door. 

Her memories of what happened after they drank the eel are a little vague, but she remembers the softness in Foggy’s voice when he says, “This city’s beautiful.” And she remembers the answering earnestness in her breast as she thinks, _The city that never sleeps._ Karen doesn’t know what she’s going to do about her apartment or what to do with the blood, but even as her head spins, she feels like her feet are a little bit closer to solid ground.


End file.
